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I had the Interstem placed October of 2013. I had it removed in November of 2013.

I previously saw several doctors regarding my bladder control. The last Doctor that I saw told me that the Interstem would fix all of my troubles and that is ultimately my last option. I was very hesitant and told him I needed to discuss it with my family. The next time that I came to his office, he had a drug rep from Medtronic there to talk to me about how much I needed to get the Interstem placed and that it would help me.

He (the Medtronic rep) even told me that it would help with my pain. I had to have a trial period of three days with the cords and probes placed shallow in the skin. That was done at the Doctors office. The Medtronic rep was present for the placement as well as the consultation before.

When I came back to have the probes removed, the Medtronic rep was the one who removed them without my doctor being present. I was unaware at the time that he was a drug rep. I thought he was a doctor or an assistant to my doctor. The reason for that is because I was introduced to him as, "Craig the Interstem specialist." I told the rep that the trial didn't help with the symptoms and that the pain was worse and was now shooting into my legs.

He told me that it is normal for the body to get use to things at a slow rate and with the actual device, I would be absolutely satisfied. When the day came to get the device, I was incredibly nervous. My mental state was never addressed therefore I was being told so many things at once, I wasn't able to grasp them all and the rep and the Doctor grew irritated with my questions. When I came out of surgery I was told the med rep was in the surgical room with me and was assisting the Doctor.

After the surgery the rep came out and talked to my daughter, however the did not. Over the course of having it for a month, my body went absolutely nuts! My personality changed, my physical body changed, there were shocks coursing through my legs and back causing numbness and the symptoms grew worse and the pain became too much. I saw the rep and the Doctor about a week after the surgery.

The Doctor asked me how I thought it was healing. I told him that he is Doctor he should know. The rep then looked at the site (on my bottom) and said that it looks sore. After a few weeks of no change and not healing with my new personality, I went back to the Doctor with my daughter who did not enjoy my new personality to talk to him about removing the device.

The first time we only saw the rep. He told me to try and get through a few more weeks. A week later I saw the Doctor because there was no getting through it. He brought the rep into the room and they both gave me a hard time, but agreed to having removed.

The day that I had it removed, they barely spoke to me before surgery. I had many questions and the only one they answered was what to do with the remote. The rep told me to donate it. (It should be noted that only solution the whole ordeal was to keep pumping me full of pain meds.) I went for surgery and once again the rep was in operating room assisting the Doctor.

My daughter was with me in the pre-op room and was very frustrated because the rep was interrogating me about my choice to have it removed. After my surgery the Doctor went out and told my daughter that everything was out and I would be fine.

Shortly after the Doctor left the building the rep came to the waiting room and started grilling my daughter on if I knew how to use the device, if I was using it correctly, and so forth. My daughter told him that if he wasn't sure I knew how to use the device maybe he should have spent more time explaining prior to the hour before inserting it.

Monetary Loss: $100000.

Location: Troy, Michigan

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I also having the same problems and even I turn off the device for the last 3days I have some many pains that I never had before.Device off and both of my side going down my leg hurts.If I have machine on its worst and numbness and tingly feeling.

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